Toll-collecting telephone apparatus



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. K. THOMPSON. TOLL GQLLEGTING TELEPHONE-APPARATUS, v

No.550,204. PatentedNov.l19,1895.

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ANDREW B.GRANAM,PHOTOUTHQWASHINGTUNJC (No Model.) A 2 sneets sneen 2. G. K. THOMPSON. 7

TOLL GOLLEOTINGTELEPHONE APPARATUS.

No; 550,204. Patented Nov. .19, 1.895.

Inventor.

ANIIREW B GRAHAM.PHOYO-UTNO WASMNGTUNDQ UNITED STAT-m BnTE T OFFICE; 1

GEORGE HO SON.Q MALDnN; nssieivon TO THE AMERICAN BELL TELEPHONE P F OS N, MASSACHUSETTS.

TOLL-COLLE CTING TELEPHONE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,204, dated November 19, 1895. Application filed Augu t 24, 1895.: Serial No. 560,411. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LGEORGE K. THOMPSON,

' residing at Malden, in the county of Middle ated mechanism the transmission of a par.

ticular series of characteristic signals; which being heard by the distant operator at the central station, indicate to her the denomination of the coin or token.

As exemplifying the art, I refer to Patents No. 442,342 to Vaughn, dated December-9, 1890, and No. 526,608 to Charles C. Blake, dated September 25, 1894. In the former of these patents'a series of periodic pulsations of current are transmitted over the telephoneline corresponding in number to the dimensions of the coin. In the latter several sets or series of revoluble contact-points pass before a contact-lever, the position'of the co'ntact lever with relation to any particular series of contact-points being determined by the size of v the coin.

In my improvement I employ, in combination with a revoluble lever whose movement is determined by the size of the deposited coin, a transversely movable contact arm mounted upon the lever, several series of contact points therefor normally out of range of.

the contact-arm, anda templet adapted to move the contact-lever to register with a particular series of contact-points corresponding to the travel of the lever.

My invention also embodies other minor improvements. Among these are an automatically-operated key for short-circuiting the secondary helix of the induction-coil at the station during the transmission of the distinctive signals, and a. system of circuit connections by which the vibrating circuit breaker or buzzer rendered operative during the activity of the signal-transmitting device It belongs to v is caused to produce an intermittent current in the'line-circ uit whose completion and interruption constitute the signals. Other details also are involved in the invention, which will. be hereinafter described at length, and pointed out in the claims. I'have illustrated the invention in the ac companying drawings;

Figure 1 of the drawings is an ideal representation of the essential parts of the device, all accessory and subordinate mechanism being omitted. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the complete-"apparatus as provided for practical use. Fig. 3 is a plan View of .the same.

Iwill describe the invention generally in connection with Fig. 1, considering later the vari'ous'refinements which are necessary or desirable in practice.

In Fig. 1 a bell-crank lever to has its shorter I arm a 'curvedand projecting into the path of the coin b, the lateral mbvementof the coin being' prevented byan abutment c. A vertical ro'drd i's'provided, which may be retracted by a spring, ii1 such position that when the rod is depressed by means ofits buttond the .coin b shall be pushed forward in opposition to the weight or retracting spring acting upon lever a. This lever will thereby be rotated about its pivot a to an extent dependent'upon .the diameter of coin 1). Le-

ver a'carries at the extremity of its longer arm a transversely-movable contact-arm e, pivoted at e to the lever a. 'Ihis contact-arm carries a contact-point iand a stud or1pro jection e which is adapted to engage the edge of a templet f. Contact-points g h' 71 '6 i are arranged in arcs of concentric circles, respectively. The curved edge of templet f is so formed that for any given upward movement of lever a thejcontact-arm 6 shall be rotated sufficiently to register with a corresponding series of contact-points.

In practice I prefer that the signal shall be transmitted-in the return movement of lever a, rather than inits initial upward movement. Hence I have arranged the apparatus so that no operativecircuit connection shall be made by the contact-point e in its upward move ment, butit is pushed by the templet into such a position that it shall register with the required series of contact-points in its return. Thus,if levera be moved upward until the stud c has engaged the projection f 2 of the templet,

and then be permitted to return to its normal position, the contact-point c will in this return movement be drawn across the point (1 and will thus momentarily close a circuit. If, however, the arm were advanced so that projection a registered with the portion f of the templet, contact c would have been thrown into position to connect successively with the points h 71 thus closing the circuit twice. Obviously, the construction of templet f must be appropriate to the coins which are to be collected, the coins of different denominations acting through the medium of arm (1 templet f, and the intermediate mechanism to cause contact-arm e to pass over corresponding rows of contact-points in order to transmit suitable distinctive signals. It is sometimes desirable in structures for this purpose that certain coins shall not operate the mechanismfor example, coins of lower denomination than the required toll. 111 this invention provision may be made to prevent the transmission of any signal when such a coin is deposited byso constructing the templet at a point corresponding to the size of the insufiicient coin that the contact-arm a shall pass over no contact-points whatever in its return movement. Hence, no signal would be transmitted upon the deposition of an inferior coin.

Near the lever to is placed a sliding rod 71:, carrying projecting pin k which registers with the lever, and by which the rod is forced to its lowest position by the lever when in its normal position. Engaging with the upper extremity of the rod is is a centrally-pivoted lever Z, whose extremity projects into the path of i'novement of a pin (1 in the push-bar (l. Vhen this bar is depressed to push the coin 12 through the chute, this pin cl engages lever Z, and through it shifts bar It longitudinally, the lever (t being then out of engagement with pin 7x Two springs 713 are thereby brought into contact with the bar 7.; and become electrically connected together.

On the lever a is fixed a projection a of insulating material, which, when the lever is in its normal position, enters between and spreads the two contact-springs m m. \Vhen the stud a is withdrawn from between these springs, they close together and complete an electric circuit. In this diagram are shown the usual telephone appliances of a sub-station and their circuits, together with the additional circuits which have been provided for the operation of my invention. Areceivingtelephone a and a transmitting-telcphone a, with their induction-coil n and local battery it", comprise the telephone instruments. The receiving-telephone '1 t and the secondary helix of the induction-coil it" are in a telephone-circuit 1 2, which may be a line to a distant station where a receiving-telephone o is also placed in the circuit. This may be the operators telephone at the central station. The transmitting-telephone 71 battery 71 and the primary helix of coil it are in a closed local circuit 3 i. From opposite terminals of battery or conductors 5 and 6 are led to the two springs 7t 70, respectively, the former conductor including the contact-pieces p and 1)" of a buzzer or vibrating circuit-breaker, and the latter conductor the helix of the magnet constituting part of the same instrument. A wire '7 is led from one terminal of magnet 11 to the different signal-transmitting contactpieces Q 7t 1 &c., the contact-pieces being connected with it in parallel. The other terminal of the magnet is connected with the line through wire 9. The contact-arm e is united throughwi re 8 with line-conductor 2.

Conductors 9 and 10 are led from the terminals of the secondary helix of coil a" to the springs m and 111?, respectively, so that when these springs are permitted to close together the secondary helix of the induction-coil is short-circuited. The object of this eontrivance is to prevent interference with the transmitted signal by extraneous noises repeated into the circuit through the transmitter and the induction-coil.

The operation of the essential features of my invention may be traced in this diagram. After the required coin has been. deposited and has fallen into the position indicated in the drawings the bar (I is depressed. lts movement forces the coin through the chute, whereby the lever a is rotated and the contact-arm e is brought by the templct f into position to make connection with a particular series of contact-pieces in its return movement. The movement of lever a permits the springs m and m to short-circuit the secondary helix of the induction-coil. The extreme movement of the push-rod (1 brings the contactmaking portion of the rod 70 between springs it it and closes the local circuit of battery it through the circuit-breaker p. \Vhen the coin has passed entirely through the chute, the lever a is returned by its weight or retractive spring to its normal position, drawing the contact-arm 6" over the particular row of contact terminals, as 7t 7L2, and transmitting through the line 1 2 a corresponding series of signals, the elements of the signal being sounds of short duration produced by the extra current from buzzer 1).

In putting my invention into practical form I have applied to it various mechanical refinements for the purpose of insuring reliability of operation. For instance, I have found it necessary to provide an cscapement or other retarding device to control the movement of lever a, so that the signals shall. not be too rapidly transmitted. I have found it desirable, also, to provide means for retaining the contact-arm 6 during its return movement in the relative posit-ion to which it was moved by the templet during its initial movement and for restoring it to its normal position after it has performed its function. These different contrivances are illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

The bar or push (Z is carried upon a pivoted IIO lever 7", which is acted upon by a retractive spring r and which carries a handle r accessible at the side of the instrument-case. Lever a carries a toothed sector a which meshes with a pinion on the shaft with an escapement-wheel s, which is controlled by the usual pallet 8 Upon the same spindle, also, is a ratchet-wheel 8 with which a pivoted and weighted dog 8 rests normally in engagement. The switch-rod 7c is arranged horizontally, supported in bearings 70 and communicates with lever Z through a lateral extension or projection 70*. When the pin d comes to bear upon the projecting extremity of lever Z, this lever moves the rod is laterally, so that the metallic portion 70 enters between springs 10 and 70 The same rod is carries, also, a stud 70 which is adjusted to engage the weight of dog 8 in the first lateral movement of the rod to release the ratchetwheel 8 from the dog.

The contact-arm e, pivoted upon arm a, is provided with a toothed sector 6 with which a pivoted spring-impelled dog a registers. The dog 6 permits the rotation of the lever about its pivot 6 when a suflicient force is applied, but hinders its shifting sufficiently to render certain its return over the desired course, or, in other words, to prevent it from being moved laterally by friction on the contact-pieces in its return. The stud t, fixed in the base 9, lies in the path of the sector 6 in its normal position, so that as the lever a comes to rest after its return movement the contact-arm e is pushed back to its proper position against the resistance of dog e and sector 6 Iclaim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination with a coin chute, a lever, and means for rotating the lever through an are proportional to the size of the coin, of a contact piece carried by and movable relatively to the said lever, several rows of contact points, and a templet adapted to determine the movement of the contact piece over a particular row of contact points corresponding to the travel of the lever, as described.

2. The combination with a coin chute of a revoluble contact arm having an extension projecting into the coin chute, a device for impelling the coin through the chute, a movable contact piece mounted on the contact arm, several series of contact points, and a templet I registering with the contact piece adapted to move said contact piece laterally to different positions corresponding to difierent travels of the lever in which it shall register with the corresponding series of contact points, as described.

3. The combination with a coin chute, a lever, and means for moving the lever through an arc'corresponding to the dimension of a coin passed through the chute, of a transversely movable contact piece on the lever, several contact points at difierent distances from the pivotal point of the lever, a templet controlling the lateral movement of the contact piece, formed to throw the said contact piece into different positions corresponding to difierent travels of the lever, a telephone circuit and an operators telephone therein, and a source of current and circuit connections with the contact points and contact piece adapted to produce signals in the telephone circuit, as described.

4. The combination with a lever whose travel is determined by a deposited coin, of a pivoted contact arm and a templet adapted to move the contact arm into different positions, a ratchet on the contact arm, and a spring actuated dog engaging the ratchet,

whereby the contact arm is retained in the position to which it is moved by the templet, as described.

5. The combination with a lever whose travel is determined by a deposited coin, of a contact arm pivoted thereon, carrying a ratchet, a dog engaging the ratchet, a templet adapted to register with the contact arm to move it into different positions corresponding to the travel of the lever, a series of contact points arranged in the path of the contact arm in its return movement, and a stop adapted to engage the arm to restore it to its normal position when the lever comes to rest, as described.

6. The combination with a telephone line of an induction coil having its secondary helix therein and having its primary helix in circuit with a transmitting telephone and a source of current, mechanism adapted to transmit a series of characteristic signals in the telephone line during its operation, a normally open switch controlling a short circuit about the secondary helix of the induction coil, and means actuated by the said mechanism in its movement for closing the switch, as described.

7. The combination with a coin chute of a lever having an arm projecting into the path of the coin and a push for impelling the coin through the coin chute, a local circuit including a source of current and a vibrating circuit breaker controlled by a switch, a device operated by the said push in its extreme movement to close the said switch, and a device in the path of the lever adapted to turn the switch to its normal position upon the return of the lever, a series of contact points and a contact arm registering therewith carried by the lever, and circuit connections between the said contact points and the switch whereby the continuity 'of the connections with the contact points is controlled by the switch, as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 8th day of August, 1895.

GEORGE K. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. WILLIs PIERCE, JOSEPH A. GATELY. 

